‘We needed to thank them’: Veterans celebrate service of Iraqi and Afghan families
Saiid, a former U.S. military interpreter, reluctantly embraced the applause of veterans and volunteers gathered at a small downtown Kansas City venue Wednesday night.
”I just wanted to say thank you for helping me and my family get out of Afghanistan,” he said tearfully to the service members standing beside him at the front of the room.
Saiid has family still in Afghanistan and asked that his full name not be used for their safety.
The 170 person crowd honored him and many other Iraqi and Afghan families — most newly resettled in Kansas City — who served with the U.S. military in Afghanistan. They received flowers and certificates of appreciation as part of a small ceremony organized by local churches ahead of veterans day. The event kicked off with a buffet of Afghan and Middle Eastern cuisine.
Sgt. Jacob Sapp, a former member of the U.S. Army Reserves and officer with the Kansas City Police Department, gave one of the event’s first speeches. He told the story of one Afghan man in attendance, whose home was blown up after he alerted U.S. troops of an impending attack.
One at a time Afghan and Iraqi family members had their achievements in service to the US read aloud to the audience.
Many had successful careers as electrical or mechanical engineers and interpreters back in Afghanistan. Some worked for the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Department of Energy. Each crossed to the center of the room where they were met with applause, a red rose and certificate of recognition signed by the Clay County sheriff.
”We want to honor those who’ve served our country. But in the case of Afghan and Iraqi families there hasn’t been a formal way for Americans to honor and recognize their service, said Seth Gilliam, an engineer and organizer for his church.”The impetus behind the event was to say we see you and we want to recognize how you have served and sacrificed for our country.”
Gilliam helped organize the event along with Abundant Life Baptist Church and Blue River Baptist Association.
Gilliam taught English in Afghanistan for four months and developed close ties to Kansas City’s nearly 2,000-person Afghan community in Kansas City. Only a small portion of that community was in attendance tonight.
The event is a great way to bridge the gap and get the chance to welcome many new Afghan families as our neighbor, Gilliam said.
He hopes it will introduce evacuees in the process of resettlement with the greater Afghan community and community of Kansas City as a whole. He encouraged anyone looking to help with resettlement speak to the Della Lamb Community Services leaders and case managers in attendance.
“We’re really just in the very very initial onset of new families that have come I mean. There will be many many more families who will be arriving,” he said
Della Lamb is expecting to resettle 299 new Afghan families between now and February 2022.